AllFreeNovel
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Tapes tomorrow afternoon. Talk after.
Hunter
Got it. I’m flying in this week. Dinner Thursday?
Brandon
OK.
* * *
Brandon
Gonna be late tonight, baby. I’ve gotta stop by my place and get some clothes.
Ashlyn
Let yourself in when you get here. Lindy and I are both going to bed soon. She’s got early rink time before school tomorrow.
Brandon
Okay. Arm the alarm.
Ashlyn
It’s armed. And Brandon... Come upstairs when you get here.
Iread the last line a few times.
I didn’t want to leave her yesterday.
Not when I woke up and she wasn’t in bed.
Not after she opened her fucking soul to me and ripped mine out in the process.
This woman. She’s so much stronger than she gives herself credit for.
She’s a survivor.
She’s mine.
Fuck. It’s gonna be a long-ass flight.
* * *
Turns out, it was longer than I expected. The flight from Dallas back to Philly usually takes about three hours. Tonight, we hit a storm and had to be rerouted, so it was closer to four. I’m sore. I’m tired. And I’m in desperate need of my woman when I get to my house.
One more stop before I can get to hers.
Stale air greets me when I walk into my house, and for the first time since I bought it, I look at it through different eyes. Most rookies were buying cars and hookers. I was buying what I thought was a home. A place for me and Maddie. Some place that could be ours. And it was. This was the first place we had our own Christmas. It was small. Like we were scared it wasn’t real, but it was ours. Our first real Thanksgiving dinner... when she burned the shit out of a turkey and we ended up ordering takeout. We tried though. That’s what mattered.
Mads didn’t fall in love with the holidays until Hudson Kingston forced it on her.
She, in turn, forced it on me.
Now, each year, I’m in matching pajama pants on Christmas morning, sitting in their living room, watching the girls open their presents. I grumble about the stupid pajamas, but I kinda love them. Not that I’ll ever tell her that. Too much power goes to Maddie’s head.
Somewhere along the line, this house started to feel less like a home and more like a place I lived. It only took one fucking week with Ashlyn and Lindy to understand why. One week. But seriously, who the fuck am I kidding? It took one night to fall for her, so it makes sense that it would only take one week with her to know what I want. Maybe I always knew if Ashlyn and I ever got a second chance, that would be it.Game over.
